Safe and supportive Group Support rooms.
Hi everyone!
In a continued effort to increase safety in the group support chatrooms and ensure a supportive environment, We wanted to make this post to ensure we as a community are on the same page.
We have picked up a pattern in some of the rooms where users will behave in an unprofessional and unsupportive manner but once they have been given several verbal reminders, they leave and come back later when the moderator is no longer active. This becomes a very unwelcoming atmosphere for users entering the room and looking for support.
To tackle this, the community team is going to take a different approach. If we have users who are continually adding to an unsupportive environment, breaking rules and disregarding community guidelines, we will immediately remove them from the chatrooms. To ensure member safety our volunteer leaders will continue with the 3 verbal reminder policy. If an admin or community moderator comes across this situation they will however take action.
Here are a few reminders we wanted to share:
1. Our volunteer mod team is dedicating their time to support and foster a healthy environment for members to feel safe enough to share their story. They are humans behind their badges who are here with good intentions.
2. Not every topic is going to resonate with everyone. If a discussion is taking place and you do not wish to participate, you are not forced to do so. We do ask however that you allow the community the space to discuss the topic and consider stepping out until it is over. The majority of these are prescheduled. A lot of time and effort is put in by our volunteers to create and share this content. Please be mindful of the things you say.
3. This is a platform that takes pride is volunteerism. The community team is here to facilitate the work our volunteers are doing. If you would like something changed, have an idea or a suggestion, please reach out to the appropriate ambassador or project leader. We want to work together and often would like to see these same changes and updates roll out however do not have the bandwidth to do so.
4. 7 cups is an emotional support platform and should be used as such. Our priority is to provide quality support to those reaching out. While building friendships and connections may be part of that, we ask that you keep in mind that support is priority. Casual discussions are great when appropriate however if there is someone that needs support, please acknowledge them and their struggles. A few kind words can go a long way.
This being said, if you come across a situation that is persistent and ongoing, what should you do?
We are going to be updating the mod review form listed in the chatroom rules section (Rule #25). You can use this form to report anyone you have had an inappropriate encounter with in the group support chatrooms. If you see something that keeps coming up and you feel it needs to be reported, you can do so here (Also found at the bottom of the chat window in the chatroom rules list in any member chatroom.)
We recognise that there are many people who spend time in the rooms and have a very positive impact! We really do appreciate all the effort. We want this to be a community space we can be proud of and one where our users feel safe and supported. I hope that together we can find a way to move forward and improve.
@Lorraine234
As a person who is often in the rooms for either hosting discussions, looking for someone, or just to even hang out I see a lot of these things happening, and its so sad because it just makes things awkward, and uncomfortable for everybody which is not what 7 Cups stands for! I wont go into details obviously but I remember in my last discussion there was a situation that was very difficult for the mod, and I to handle professionally, and ultimately we did have to end the discussion a little early unfortunately because everyone was just super upset which is not fair to any of us at all! Obviously I understand people have bad days, and not every discussion will go perfectly so that definitely did not put me off from hosting I mean I am hosting again tomorrow. However at the same time behind my Safety badge Im a human as well with feelings so Id be lying if I said Im not scared at all for what I may face tomorrow because in all truth I am scared that history might repeat itself. Is that gonna stop me from doing my job though? Of course not! Does knowing theres better guidelines being put in place make me feel better, and less afraid? Of course the knowledge of that does!
Thank you so much Lorraine for trying to make our chat rooms a safe, happy, comfortable place where members can gain support from each other once again, and I hope these new guidelines help achieve that goal! ❤️
@Lorraine234
This was really needed! Thank you so much. It is disappointing to see people discuss things out of the box rather than discussing the issues or anything related to it. I won't point out to a particular group or a particular community but I have noticed this very often. How are we even supposed to take part in such a conversation where people are talking about random stuff? I don't even think it's right to participate. It becomes very difficult & nearly awkward when you are looking for support.
Thanks Lorraine for your excellent post. 
[Safety, Security, Support - Group Rooms]
......"once they have been given several verbal reminders, they leave and come back later when the moderator is no longer active."
This type of mischievous/bad behavior immediately brought to mind a certain chat room.
we assume "immediately remove them from the chatrooms" refers to banning the IP address of the user (User Not Found - Item Removed) as opposed to muting for any length of time, as most know that is never the answer, though banning is not completely foolproof either. 
As a former Member of the coveted Safety Patrol, during my stint on the team of mavelous volunteers, I quickly came to realize that, for the most part, I basically saw the same individuals be disruptive, break the same rule(s) and totally ignore the community guidelines. They were all [eventually] removed from the site yet quickly returned for round 2, 3, 4, 5......(endless cycle, sigh)
- Cut to the chase -
The key factor in far-better control of [specific] bothersome/concerning/troublesome/worrisome problems observed night and day in the chat rooms, I firmly believe, lies in changing the 'system' so that the ease of access (instant entry upon signing up and verifying the email address) to the chat rooms is NO LONGER possible. A workable/viable and a highly-fair/agreeable-to-all plan could be devised and approved in record time.
@BeautifulBreeze It's important to understand that IP address bans are a very bad idea because they ban innocent people, while in many cases baddies can easily change their IP address to get around the ban. Also, "verifying" e-mail addresses is meaningless. It is simple for baddies to "verify" fake e-mail addresses—spammers do it all the time.
I agree with you, though, that they key factor is changing the system so that people whose behaviour may be potentially harmful do not have any access to people who may be potentially vulnerable.
Charlie
@RarelyCharlie
Thanks for your reply. :) I always value any input/insight here. :)
Simple chat room "LOCKOUT" for a certain period of time would just about end the reign of the individuals who [specifically] keep getting banned, make up new accounts in seconds-to-minutes, and then head straight back into the very same chat room (because they can with absolutely nothing in the way to stop them) they previously had played their silly/childish/immature games in, caused disruptions in, and then do that very same thing over and over and over again (endless cycle, sigh) as I had witnessed while being on the Safety Patrol (spent a lot of extra-valuable volunteer time for that here), and thankfully back then, had the ability to instantly do something about it, without any delay or hesitation, as opposed to playing the excrutiating/frustrating waiting game.
Lilke I had previously mentioned that banning an IP address is not foolproof, it has it's weaknesses and flaws in design ON ANY SITE but sometimes is quite necessary to do so in the name of safety & security + protection (albeit even if only a temporary measure), though chat room lockout to all new accounts for a pre-set/pre-determined amount of time could be the magic [workable/doable] bullet.
Obviously, 7 Cups is not advertised as a chat rooms site, that is totally secondary here. It is advertised, first and foremost, as an emotional support site, a free and paid-therapy site, and what I and some others have seen going on in the chat rooms, with seemingly no end in clear sight, has no business occurring on here at all.
@BeautifulBreeze agreed and some very valid points shared.
I suppose we can see this post as an attempt to change the culture. This may not be THE solution, but what its saying is that we are going to be spending our time and efforts of those that are here to gain support.
Moderators can spend hours trying to deescalate a chatroom and have people respect the fact that we have community guidelines to ensure people stay safe.
We are refering to users that attempt to get around moderators by moving chatrooms after they have been given verbal reminders. By "immediately remove"" we are saying that since we remind these users of the guidelines on a daily basis, If we see this continue we will not be spending time reminding them again, we will simply mute them. This means they will not be able to participate in the chatrooms. If this behaviour continues outside of the chatrooms we will ask them to step away from the community.
I realise that we have situations where users create multiple accounts. I also realise this is not the only answer. More work can be done to ensure people who are banned, stay banned. This is just part of it and i can see that 100%.
@Lorraine234
Thanks for your reply Lorraine. :
"More work can be done to ensure people who are banned, stay banned. This is just part of it and i can see that 100%."
When you get the chance, please PM me on this. Thanks. :)
@Lorraine234
Thank you so much for this! I really appreciate this effort to keep our community a safe and supportive place.
@Lorraine234 When you write, "immediately remove them from the chatrooms" I think I understand what that means. I don't understand what happens next. How does the member who has just been removed get the support they need? Are they just left to work that out for themselves? The risk is that we could end up with a system that provides the least emotional support to the people who need it most.
Charlie
@RarelyCharlie I understand your concern that these people may not have the support they need. Above though, we are talking about people that dont attempt to gain support in the room. We are talking about people that are here for the sole purpose of causing trouble. They will be muted from the rooms. They can still gain support in 1-1s however if this behaviour continues outisde of the rooms, they will be asked to step away from the community.
@Lorraine234 Thank you !
@Lorraine234 Great move! Will the Commods also be able to act on the chat that is already in the room history?
Listening .... One Step At A Time Ask a Listener Coach -
@MistyMagic I think it makes sense to still ensure everyone is aware of the rules before taking action. However, if there is a user who is consistent in breaking the rules and guidelines they will take action yes.
Thanks for this. Will the CMs have access to more of the conversation when they come in than us, volunteer Mods, do? I ask this as the perpetrator usually stops when one comes in and if the convo isn't there then they, like us, would only see those who've been upset by what was being said?
@caringPanda45 No they dont have access to seeing more of the chat however they will be spending time in the rooms, checking things out more in general.
Thank you so much, @Lorraine234 !! Great looking out ♡
all the love for my 7Cups fam
@Lorraine234
Thanks for the update
